TWO life-long Ballarat-based Essendon fans have combined their encyclopedic knowledge of the Bombers to produce a book telling the little-known story of an VFL/AFL legend.
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The storied on-field career of legendary full forward John Coleman is well known, but what is less known is the off-field career as a two-time Bombers premiership coach.
Authors Michael Kearney and Phil Hoey have spent more than two years living out their passion, interviewing dozens of premiership players, to get a picture of what Coleman - the coach - was like, a man who led the Bombers to premierships in 1962 and 1965.
Kearney said the idea to write a book came from a chance meeting with another Essendon coaching legend, Kevin Sheedy.
"Going back nearly three years, before the pandemic, Phil and I would meet up and we'd test each other on a whole heap of knowledge about Essendon, we think we're pretty good, so we'd meet up every few months and prepare questions for each other," he said.
"The 1962-65 era was our time, I would have been 12 or 13, Phil was four or five years younger, so they were the first premierships we could remember.
"One day we were having a coffee and who should turn up, but Kevin Sheedy, he was holding court and so I went up, got his attention and asked him to come and join us for some trivia.
"About half-an-hour later, he came down and one thing led to another, next thing you know he says to us 'you blokes should write a book.' So he planted the seed and that's how it all started."
Kearney said after the idea had been floated, he got in touch with the past players association at Essendon.
"A friend of mine is John Birt, former Essendon champion, and John actually opened the doors for us to meet all the players of 62-65 who are still around, so we ended up interviewing 43 players for the book. Anyone who played a game in 1962 or 1965 were interviewed if they were available."
Hoey said it had been a labour of love for the two fans.
"Along with interviewing the Essendon players of that great era, we have also spoken to several of their rivals from other clubs - who provide their perspective on what it was like to come up against these mighty Bomber teams," he said.
"For these gentlemen to afford us the time to sit down and relive their glory days, allowing us to capture their great stories and publish them in a book for all Essendon supporters has been a joy of a lifetime."
Kearney said Coleman as a coach was well ahead of his time, with a team under him that featured a "who's who" of players that would become Essendon legends.
"We got stories no-one else has got, we've got photo's no-one else has got. It's been a hoot for us and the players have really appreciated being recognised and acknowledged again," he said.
"There is a segment of the book which is dedicated to 'what Coleman was like as a coach'. He was ahead of his time, he was a hard nut, very aggressive and took no prisoners. He always did his homework on opposition teams. He was big on meetings, they would always have a meeting on the Friday about the game coming up. Everyone was saying he could still be coaching now."
The book's release continues the celebrations of the 150th year of the club.
Kearney and Hoey have self-financed the book and after Sheedy inspired the book, he has even written the foreword for it.
The book will be launched at 3.30pm on Wednesday afternoon at Golden City Hotel with some past players in attendance and then later at an Essendon club luncheon on Sunday July 17 at Marvel Stadium.
It will retail for $69.99 with some of the proceeds going towards the Essendon past players and officials who, among other things, work to assist and support former players who might be suffering ongoing injury or health issues due to their time in the game.
"We hope that this book provides great reading not just for Essendon fans but for all footy followers who want to understand what the great old VFL looked like and how it operated in the post-war glow of the early and mid 1960s," Hoey said.
Copies of the book will be available for sale at coleyschampsbook.com.au and also available in store at Collins bookstores in Ballarat.
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